Joint



C. F. GAILOR JOINT Filed May 12, 1922 7/ INVENTOR.

aewrfbyf/ar ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 23, 1924.

j UNITE STATES I 1,509,474 P A T ENT F F [C E.

CHESTER 1 GAILOR, OF E'RQOIELYN, NEW' YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAIL JOINT COM- IPA-NY, OF NEW YORK, N. 'Y., A CC-BLFORATION 0F NEVI YORK.

JOINT.

Application filed May 12,

Tr) alien/2 0m it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Crrusrnn 1?. Games, a citizen of the United States,-and resident of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to joints, 'particu larly welded joints for railroad rails, and has for its objectto provide a joint which will combine great strength with an unusually high degree of flexibility. Such flexibility is an important consideration in the case of rail joints, as it is very desirable in that case that there should be as little interference as possible with the so-called wave motion which the car traffic produces in the track. Another object of my invention'is to arrange the fish plates or connecting plates which form part of the welded structure, in such a manner that the welded joints will be readily accessible, thereby enabling careful and efficient work to be done with comparative ease.

The present application is a continuation in part of my application for Letters Patent of the United States, filed July 16th, 1921, Serial No. 485,251.

As will appear from the appended claims, certain features .of my invention are novel irrespective of the character of the jointthat isto say, so far as these features are concerned, the joint might be welded or not.

Several satisfactory and preferred forms of .rail jointsembodying my present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the same constructionasFigs. and 6 of my'ear her application above referred to, Fig. 1 being a perspective View, and Fig. 2 a vertical cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 5 are perspective views showing two further forms of my invention; and Figs. 4. and 6 are vertical cross sections on the lines 4-. of Fig. 3 and 6 6 of Fig. 5 respectively.

Inall of the constructions illustrated, the webs of the two rails to be joined are designated by and 20 respectively, their heads as 21 and 21, and their bases as 22 and F22.

The splicing plates or fish plates are of novel formation and arrangement. In each of the constructions shown, the fish plate, in its entire length, engages the bases and the 182%. Serial No. 560,2'i'4=.

heads of the two aligning rail ends, but does not touch their webs. In each of these constructions, further, the fish plate or connecting plate has its greatest strength or maximum vertical cross section at that portion which bridges the gap or joint between said its central portion 23 extends from the rail heads 21, 21 to the rail bases 22, 22,-and bridges the joint between the ends of the rails, whereas the ends of the said connectingplate are forked so as to form narrow portions as indicated at 24- and 25. The vertical cross section of the plate, at said forked ends (see Fig. 2) therefore is considerably smaller than the vertical cross section of the central portlon 23, and the end portions of the connecting plate are thus much more flexible, particularly in a vertical direction, than said central portion. The connecting plate or fish plate will thus be able to bend or flex readily in harmony with the wave motion of the rail ends as the traiiic passes over them. The stress to which .the rails are subjected by the trafiic, will be taken up in such a manner as to first increase gradually to the rail ends and then decrease gradually, owing to the gradual increase and decrease of the cross section of the material receiving such stress. In this respect my invention affords considerable superiority over arrangements in which the vertical cross section of the connecting plate is uniform from end to end, since in that case there will be a sudden change to and from the full cross section when the load is at one end of the connecting plate.

The fish plates or connecting plates may" be fastened to the rails in any suitable manner, but I prefer to provide two horizontal. welds 26 extending the full length of the plate, along the upper and the lower edges thereof, to secure such plate to the rail heads 21, 21., and to the rail bases 22, 22 respectively. The welding operation would prcferably be performed in the manner set forth in my above-mentioned application, that is, the two fish plates which are located on opposite sides of the webs 20, 20, would first be welded (either simultaneously or successively) to either the head or the base of one of the rails, and then to the base or the head of the same rail, such welding operation preferably beginning in each case at the extremity of the rail, and proceeding away from the joint of the two rails. Tlen the fish plates would be welded in the same manner to the other rail.

Another way 0]": obtaining increased flexibility of the fish plate toward its ends, is illustrated by Figs. 3 and 4. The upper edge portion of the fish plate is of the same character as in Figs. 1 and 2, and so is the weld 26 along such upper edge. But at its lower edge, the fish-plate is of full thickness only at the central portion 23, that is to say, at the portion in registry with the extremities of the two rails. From this central portion to the ends of the fish plate, its thickness is decreased gradually to said ends, by beveling the lower edge portion as indicated at 2 1 and 25. Owing to this arrangement, the weld along the rail bases 22,22 will not be along straight line, as in Fig. 1, but along two oblique lines 26 slanting and diverging outwardly, with reference to the rail web, from the ends of the fish plate to the central portion thereof.

Again, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a similar result may be obtained by giving the fish plate its full thickness only at its central portion 23, and reducing the thickness thereof gradually toward each end, both along the upper and along the lower edge, for instance by beveling or rounding the outer surface of said plate at the top 4 and at the bottom, as indicated at 24,25.

In this case, the welds 26 at the rail heads and those along the rail bases will both be of the oblique, outwardly diverging character explained above in connection with Figs. 3 and 4.

In each of the constructions illustrated, the fish plates have been shown out of contact with the rail webs 20, 20, but this while preferred is not essential. I have also shown the connecting plates as having both ends at the same distance from the rail ends; this, too, is not essential. It will be noted that in each form of my invention illustrated, if a horizontal section be taken tlirough the connecting plate about midway between the heads and the bases, such longitudinal section will show the plate as of uniform thickness from one end of the section to the other.

The invention herein described locates the weld lines at readily accessible points, and hence very efiicient welds may be made even by workmen having only moderate skill.

lVhile I have shown my invention as applied to rail joints, it will be readily understood that such invention may be used whenever it is desired to connect two longitudinally-aligning members having a web and flanges that may be termed ahead and a base, although I do not wish to restrict myself to arrangements in which the head is at the upper end of a vertical web, or even to the vertical or upright arrangement of such web.

I claim 1. A welded rail joint including the rails, a. connecting plate fitting the fishing spaces of both rails and having the top and bottom edges thereof welded their full lengths respectively to the head and base flanges of the rail, the top and bottom edge portions of the plate being of equal length and the vertical cross-section of the plate decieasing from its central portion toward its ends.

2. A welded rail joint including the rails, a connecting plate fitting the fishing spaces of both rails and having the to) and bottom edges thereof welded their t ull lengths respectively to the head and base flanges of the rail, the top and bottom edge portions of the plate being of equal length and the vertical cross-section of the plate decreasing from its central portion towards its ends, and said plate being of uniform thickness throughout its longitudinal center.

8. A welded rail joint including the rails, and a connecting plate fitting the fishing spaces of both rails and welded along its top and bottom edges respectively to the head and base flanges of the rail, the said connecting plate being bifurcated or forked at' its ends.

4-. A connecting plate for welded rail joints having an intern'iediate unbroken solid portion adapted to be located at the center of the rail joint and its ends forked or bifurcated producing upper and lower relatively narrow arm portions adai ted respectively to engage the edge and nise flanges of the rails.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 11 day of May A. D. 1922.

CHESTER F. GAILOR. 

